THE SUN: WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE ENORMOUS ENERGY THAT WAS GENERATED IN THE SIXTIES?
STEPHEN GASKIN: SOME OF ITS SEEDS HAVE FALLEN ON STONY GROUND, SOME OF ITS SEEDS HAVE BEEN EATEN BY BIRDS, AND SOME HAVE FALLEN IN PLACES WHERE THAT ENERGY HAS RETURNED A HUNDREDFOLD. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR REVOLUTION: IT'S STILL HERE. ALTHOUGH THERE'S NOT A VISIBLE HIPPIE TRIBE ON THE STREETS OR ROADS OR IN THE CITIES, AS THERE USED TO BE, IT DOESN'T MATTER, BECAUSE WE PERMEATED THE CULTURE. THE POPULAR MUSIC OF THIS COUNTRY IS NOW ROCK-AND-ROLL. YOU HEAR PEOPLE STILL TALKING HIPPIE TALK THAT WAS INVENTED ON HAIGHT STREET. THEY SAY, "DIG THIS," AND "COOL." EVERYBODY DOES. WE PERMEATED THE CULTURE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO DO...
THE SUN: WAS SOME OF THAT ENERGY MAYBE TOO OPTIMISTIC? EXPECTED SOMETHING TO HAPPEN TOO SOON?
GASKIN: THINGS DID HAPPEN. WE GOT OUT OF VIETNAM. WE MADE IT SO THAT YOU COULDN'T RUN A RACIST SOCIETY SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES, SO THAT THE CONSTITUTION REACHED DOWN INTO THE FAR CORNERS OF ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. WE GOT RID OF A PRESIDENT WHO WAS A TYRANT. WE BROUGHT NEW FORMS OF EDUCATION TO OTHER COUNTRIES THROUGH THE PEACE CORPS. THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS CULTURAL FLOWERING THAT TOOK PLACE. ALL FLOWERS EVENTUALLY CURL UP, BUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FLOWER IS IN THE SEED. AND THE SEEDS WERE PLANTED.
(Stephen Gaskin-hippie, founder of "The Farm," commune in Tennessee).
STEPHEN GASKIN: SOME OF ITS SEEDS HAVE FALLEN ON STONY GROUND, SOME OF ITS SEEDS HAVE BEEN EATEN BY BIRDS, AND SOME HAVE FALLEN IN PLACES WHERE THAT ENERGY HAS RETURNED A HUNDREDFOLD. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR REVOLUTION: IT'S STILL HERE. ALTHOUGH THERE'S NOT A VISIBLE HIPPIE TRIBE ON THE STREETS OR ROADS OR IN THE CITIES, AS THERE USED TO BE, IT DOESN'T MATTER, BECAUSE WE PERMEATED THE CULTURE. THE POPULAR MUSIC OF THIS COUNTRY IS NOW ROCK-AND-ROLL. YOU HEAR PEOPLE STILL TALKING HIPPIE TALK THAT WAS INVENTED ON HAIGHT STREET. THEY SAY, "DIG THIS," AND "COOL." EVERYBODY DOES. WE PERMEATED THE CULTURE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO DO...
THE SUN: WAS SOME OF THAT ENERGY MAYBE TOO OPTIMISTIC? EXPECTED SOMETHING TO HAPPEN TOO SOON?
GASKIN: THINGS DID HAPPEN. WE GOT OUT OF VIETNAM. WE MADE IT SO THAT YOU COULDN'T RUN A RACIST SOCIETY SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES, SO THAT THE CONSTITUTION REACHED DOWN INTO THE FAR CORNERS OF ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. WE GOT RID OF A PRESIDENT WHO WAS A TYRANT. WE BROUGHT NEW FORMS OF EDUCATION TO OTHER COUNTRIES THROUGH THE PEACE CORPS. THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS CULTURAL FLOWERING THAT TOOK PLACE. ALL FLOWERS EVENTUALLY CURL UP, BUT THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FLOWER IS IN THE SEED. AND THE SEEDS WERE PLANTED.
(Stephen Gaskin-hippie, founder of "The Farm," commune in Tennessee).
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